Chapter 94: Pt.2

"Murong, have you…have you gotten tired of me?"

"..."

"..." Xu Chuanchuan grew so nervous that her lips had dried up.

After an eerie silence, Xu Chuanchuan felt a hand landing on her waist and a familiar scent brushing against her face. Then, she heard Murong Shi saying, "I'm only talking to that person because I need her help on some matters. Stop overthinking things."

At this point, Xu Chuanchuan could no longer tell who was right or wrong for today's matter. She couldn't help but grow unsettled because of Murong Shi's fall just now. Moreover, Murong Shi had just returned from an extended business trip and should be tired, so why did she have to pick a fight with Murong Shi of all times?

The more Xu Chuanchuan thought about it, the more guilty she felt. She also couldn't be bothered to think about why Murong Shi was deliberately keeping a secret from her.

When a conflict arose, one of the involved parties must first compromise to reach a solution. Xu Chuanchuan quickly felt her heart softening when she sensed the warmth coming from Murong Shi's hand. So, she reached out and embraced Murong Shi, saying, "I'm sorry, I was too willful. Does your butt still hurt?"

"Don't touch me."

"I'm just giving you a massage."

The hands of both parties clashed in the dark. After holding onto Xu Chuanchuan's wrist, Murong Shi said, "It doesn't hurt, but if you keep on touching me like that, neither of us are getting any sleep tonight."

"..."

Xu Chuanchuan sometimes felt that she was a vain person. Even though she had previously agreed with Murong Shi that they shouldn't ever argue with each other, she still failed to control her temper just now.

Because of this incident, Xu Chuanchuan failed to get any proper sleep. She kept on twisting and turning the entire night, her actions affecting even Murong Shi's rest.

Halfway through the night, Xu Chuanchuan suddenly woke up and stumbled to the bathroom. After turning on the lights, she found that her period had arrived.

Fortunately, they didn't need to go to work the next day, so they slept until they woke up naturally. After getting up, the two of them tacitly agreed not to mention a word about last night's scuffle. And after they chatted with each other on the bed for some time, Aunt Lian came to call them for lunch.

After eating lunch, Murong Shi dragged Xu Chuanchuan out, saying that they would take a look at their new house.

"New house?" Xu Chuanchuan was surprised by the news.

"It's the condo my dad gave me on my birthday."

Xu Chuanchuan remembered this gift, but she failed to understand why Murong Shi was in such a hurry to visit the house. "Don't tell me you're really planning on moving?"

"It hasn't even been renovated yet, so how can we move in? Though, I do have plans to do so," Murong Shi said.

Sun An had long since passed the keys to the condo to Murong Shi. All of the paperwork had been dealt with as well. The condo's unit number was an auspicious '8,' and it was a sizable place with well over 100 square meters. The house had three bedrooms and a spacious kitchen and bathrooms. The master bedroom even had a large open-air balcony that provided a magnificent view.

"We'll use the master bedroom for ourselves. As for the two other rooms, we'll reserve one for you as a study, and the other one will be used as a guest room," Murong Shi explained. "We'll need to take care of the renovations quickly if we want to move in soon. What kind of style do you have in mind for interior decoration? Do you want a European style? Or a mixed one?"

"I..." The house was empty, so their voices echoed when they spoke. After taking a look around, Xu Chuanchuan looked at Murong Shi's expectant face and said, "Murong, I think the dormitory is pretty good."

"You don't want to move out and live with me?"

Xu Chuanchuan nodded, then shook her head.

Puzzled, Murong Shi asked, "What does that mean?"

Holding onto Murong Shi's arm, Xu Chuanchuan carefully said, "I want to move out with you, but I just don't think the timing is right yet."

"I'm not saying we should move out immediately. We still need to do the renovations. The renovations will take quite some time."

Biting her lower lip, Xu Chuanchuan said, "This house is something your father gave to you. It would be inappropriate for me to move into this place with you."

"How is it inappropriate?"

"I just finished paying off the money I owed you, so I'm utterly broke right now. You, too, know that the platform will hold onto half of the money I've earned before I finish writing the current book. So, I don't have any spare money to do other things..."

"I'm not having you pay for anything."

"Which is why I think it's inappropriate," Xu Chuanchuan anxiously said. "Although I'm your girlfriend, I don't wish to rely on you for everything. I've already been thinking that I'm not worthy of you. If I take advantage of you as well, it'll feel as if I'm a sugar baby."

"Sugar baby?" Murong Shi couldn't help but laugh at Xu Chuanchuan's usage of terms. "Are you afraid I can't afford to provide for you?"

"I don't need you to provide for me. I can make money myself."

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Murong Shi said, "You're too calculative."

Xu Chuanchuan clicked her tongue and said, "I know I'm stingy and have a lot of shortcomings. The only positive point I have left is that I don't like taking advantage of others. If I lose even this positive point, you'll definitely come to hate me."

"Who told you that?"

"Is that not so? If I keep on spending your money and take advantage of you, would you still like me?"

Murong Shi paused for a while and earnestly thought about Xu Chuanchuan's question. Then, she said, "I won't."

Unfortunately, Murong Shi's honestly ended up upsetting her lover instead.

"But I like your frankness," Murong Shi said in an attempt to coax Xu Chuanchuan.

"I'm not the only one who has to be frank. You must be honest as well."

"Since when have I not been honest?"

"Last night, you were clearly..." Xu Chuanchuan shut her mouth halfway through her sentence and turned away.

"..." Murong Shi did not wish to bring up the sensitive topic, either. So, she dragged Xu Chuanchuan into the master bedroom and pointed outside the balcony, saying, "Look, there's a park over there."

The matter was pushed aside, just like that.

Xu Chuanchuan's and Murong Shi's days quickly returned to normal. However, before even a week had passed, Xu Chuanchuan started noticing something strange with Murong Shi's behavior again.

The first time Xu Chuanchuan noticed Murong Shi's strange behavior was when she brought a document for Murong Shi to sign. When she visited Murong Shi's office, an empty room greeted her. Then, Linda told her that Murong Shi had left the company for some business.

In the past, whether Murong Shi was leaving the company for private or work matters, she would always notify Xu Chuanchuan beforehand. But she did not do so this time. In the end, though, Xu Chuanchuan only chalked it up to Murong Shi being in too much of a hurry and forgetting to tell her about her departure.

The next time Xu Chuanchuan noticed a peculiarity was that same night.

Murong Shi had been taking a shower while Xu Chuanchuan was on the phone with Mother Xu at the time. Partway through the call, Xu Chuanchuan's phone ran out of battery. Failing to find a charger, she thought of using Murong Shi's phone to call her mother.

However, when Xu Chuanchuan picked up Murong Shi's phone, she found that she couldn't unlock it with her fingerprint. After meeting with failure several times, she tried to open it via password. Yet, when she entered the password, the system notified her that she had entered an incorrect password.

Refusing to give up, Xu Chuanchuan kept on trying. However, not once did she succeed in unlocking the phone. Then, eventually, her heart gradually sank as she came to accept the fact that…

Murong Shi had changed the password to her phone and deleted Xu Chuanchuan's recorded fingerprint.

But why?

Xu Chuanchuan completely forgot about calling her mother back as she sat on the bed and waited for Murong Shi to leave the bathroom.

When Murong Shi returned to the bedroom and saw Xu Chuanchuan holding onto her phone, her expression changed slightly as she approached Xu Chuanchuan and asked, "You touched my phone?"

There was neither joy nor anger in Murong Shi's voice. Xu Chuanchuan also couldn't be bothered to discern Murong Shi's emotions as she stared at her lover in the eye and said, "I was just trying to borrow your phone to call my mom, but I found that…I couldn't unlock your phone."

Murong Shi stayed silent for a moment before she said, "It's because there are some secrets inside. I didn't want others finding out those secrets, so I changed the password without telling you."

Coldly, Xu Chuanchuan said, "It's not just the password; you even deleted my fingerprint. Is it because you're afraid I'll check your phone?"

"That's right."

That's right?

Xu Chuanchuan was surprised by Murong Shi's frankness. However, she also felt her heart growing cold at Murong Shi's actions. After struggling to speak for some time, she asked, "Why? Is this also related to that woman?"

Murong Shi nodded without any hesitation. Then, she took her phone out of Xu Chuanchuan's hand and explained before Xu Chuanchuan exploded, "But hear me out first. Nothing is going on between that person and me. We were just talking about…"

"Work?"

"This… I can't tell you for the moment."

Playing mysterious? Xu Chuanchuan didn't ask why Murong Shi couldn't tell her about her secret. After all, her mind was utterly incapable of functioning properly right now. She also didn't know whether she felt angry or sad.

"Okay, whatever you say." Xu Chuanchuan stood up and took a deep breath, doing her best to suppress her emotions. Then, she took a step closer to Murong Shi and asked, "Is there anything else you are hiding from me?"

Murong Shi's eyes looked clear and calm as she said, "I went out once today."

"I know. Linda said you went out for business."

"Mhm, I treated that person to a meal. I was worried you would overthink things, so I didn't tell you about it."

Sneering, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "So, you're not afraid I would overthink by telling it to me now? If I didn't ask about it, were you planning on never telling me about it?"

"Yes."

"..." Xu Chuanchuan pushed Murong Shi aside and ran out of the room.

Murong Shi hurriedly ran after Xu Chuanchuan and held her back, asking, "Where are you going this late at night?"

"I'm taking a shower." Xu Chuanchuan impatiently shook off Murong Shi's hand.

"Why are you taking your phone with you?"

"None of your business!" Xu Chuanchuan ran into the bathroom without turning back and slammed the door shut.

Of course, Xu Chuanchuan was in no mood to take a shower at all. With her back against the door, she typed a message to Ange with trembling fingers, saying: "I'm so angry! Murong is talking with another woman behind my back! She even secretly changed her phone's password and went on a date with that woman! She even confidently admitted it after I called her out!"

Ange's reply arrived several minutes later: "She's cheating on you???"

Xu Chuanchuan: "She says nothing is going on between them. Do you think I should believe her?"

Ange: "It's inappropriate for an outsider like me to meddle in this matter. Do you have any concrete evidence?"

Xu Chuanchuan: "What I told you is all the evidence I found. If nothing is going on between them, why does she need to change her password? She says she is talking business with that woman, yet it's not something related to work. So, why must she keep me in the dark? I really can't understand her."

Ange: "Think positively. Maybe she's preparing a birthday surprise for you?"

Xu Chuanchuan: "My birthday is in April. Does she need to prepare this much in advance?"

Ange: "So, you're certain she's cheating on you?"

Upon seeing this message, Xu Chuanchuan's agitated heart suddenly cooled down.

Murong is cheating on me? But how is that possible… She just brought me to look at the new house a few days ago…

If Xu Chuanchuan were honest, she was indeed furious at Murong Shi for keeping quiet about her secret meeting with another woman. However, never once had she ever dared to think that Murong Shi was cheating on her.

So, what exactly is the reason?

After taking a shower to cool her head, Xu Chuanchuan returned to the bedroom and asked Murong Shi once more, "So, what exactly are you doing with that woman?"

"I'm sorry. I don't wish to hide it from you, but I can't tell this matter to anyone else, and that includes you," Murong Shi curtly said.

"Okay." Xu Chuanchuan walked past Murong Shi and reached for her pillow on the bed.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm sleeping on the sofa tonight," Xu Chuanchuan said.

Holding down Xu Chuanchuan's hands, Murong Shi frowned and asked, "Do you not believe me?"

Pretending to be calm, Xu Chuanchuan said, "It doesn't matter. You can continue your conversation with her. You don't need to care about my feelings, either."

"It's not that I don't care about your feelings. I just…"

"Oh, by the way, Ange is coming over in a few days, so I won't have time to accompany you." Sneering, Xu Chuanchuan said, "Have that woman accompany you instead!"